Attachment for mail-boxes.



E. H. CLARK.

ATTACHMENT FOR MAIL BOXES.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.13, 1911.

1,01 3,128. Patented Jan.2, 1912.

awmm boz I EZmnyYC/ar/ ELMER H. CLARK, OF SHELDON, IOWA.

ATTACHMENT FOR MAIL-BOXES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 13, 1911.

Patented Jan. 2, 1912. Serial No. 620,919.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, ELMER H. CLARK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sheldon, in the county of OBrien and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Mail- Boxes; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in mail holding attachments for mail boxes.

One object of the invention is to provide ,an attachment of this character by means of which letters or other mail may be held in position to be readily taken by the carrier or collector thereby obviating the loss of time which is--required in picking up the several pieces of mail when thrown loosely onto the bottom of the box.

Another object is to provide a mail holding attachment of this character which will be simple, strong, durable and inexpensive in construction and which may be readily secured in any form of mail box.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction, combination and arrange ment of parts as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings: 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a mail box showing my improved mail holding attachment arranged therein; Fig. 2 is a front View of the attachment removed from the box, parts of the same being broken away; to illustrate more clearly the manner in which the clamping member of the attachment is secured. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

ig. 4 is a cross sectional view on the line 4% of Fig. 2.

In the embodiment of the invention I provide an attaching plate 1, which has its opposite side edges bent inwardly' at right angles and thence laterally to form attaching flanges 2, which are adapted to be bolted, riveted or otherwise firmly secured to the inner side of the mail box 3 at any desired position therein.

Adapted to be secured to the outer side of the attachin clamping mem er 4, said member being preferably constructed from a single piece :shown. In the Figure taching plate 1', and

plate 1 is a spring clip or of spring wire rod bent midway between its ends to form an elongated loop 5, said loop being preferably bent transversely in the form of a band curved as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawing. The ends of the rod after forming the loop 5 are bent to form spring coils 6 after which said ends are extended longitudinally a short distance and then bent inwardly at a right angle to form attaching members 7. In arranging the clip ,4 the loop 5 is engaged with the outer'side of the attaching plate 1 and over the attaching members 7 is arranged a fastening plate 8, said plate being riveted or otherwise rigidly secured to the outer side of the lower end of the plate 1. The ends of the plate 8 are bent at right angles and engage the opposite sides or edges of the plate 1 as inner side of the plate 8 and adjacent portion of the plate 1 are preferably formed grooves or channels 9 with which are engaged the fastening members 7 of the clip whereby when the plate 8 is fastened to the plate 1 in the manner described the fastening members 7 will be rigidly secured and will firmly hold the clip in position on the plate 1.

By offsetting the attaching ,plate 1 from the side of the box to which the same is secured it will be readily seen that the letters or other mail held between said plate and the clip 5 will be spaced from the side of the box and may thus be readily gripped by the carrier. This offsetting of the attaching plate 1 causes it to form a pocket when secured to the wall of the mail box in which newspapers, magazines, and the like may be inserted, the clip being used to hold letters.

It will be noted that the upper end of the loop 5 of the clip projects a slight distance above the upper edge of the plate 1 and that said upper end is curved outwardly to a slight extent. This arrangement of the upper end of the clip facilitates the engagement of mail between the same and the atfurther provides means be conveniently gripped by the which can hand of the operator for releasing the tension of the clip upon the mail.

. By providing my improved mail holding attachment it will be readily seen that the carrier upon opening the box may drop the mail to be delivered into the same and read ily take the mail from the holding attachment thus obviating the annoyance and loss of time which is usually necessary in pickto the rear wall thereof, said holding ating up the letters and other mail matter tachment comprising a ct open at its scattered over the bottom of the box, this operation requiring the removal of the carriers glove and necessitatin other delays which are entirely dispense with by the use of the holding attachment herein shown and described. I

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction andv operation of the invention will be readily understood without requiring a-more extended explanation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

pock upper end, and an elongated clamping loop yieldingly secured to, the front wall of the pocket adjacent to the bottom thereof, the medial upper portion'of the clamping loop extending pocket, whereby the projecting looped portion of the clip is in convenient position to be operated. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELMER H. CLARK.

A mail holding attachment for mail boxes Witnesses adapted to separately hold letters and pa- F. L. BOOROGOR, pers and located within the box and secured H. Z. LOGAN.

above the upper edge of the 

